Chris Young Says ACM Male Vocalist of the Year Is ‘the Kind of Award You Put on a Pedestal’

Chris Young just might be a good luck charm when it comes to 2018 ACM Awards nominations: Both of the opening acts he brought on the road with him for his Losing Sleep Tour, Kane Brown and Lanco, received nods for upcoming awards ceremony. For his part, Young is up for an award in the category of Male Vocalist of the Year as well.

"Everybody on the tour is nominated. We got a lot of tour love," Young acknowledged in a recent press event. "That's not because of me, though. That's all on those guys. Lanco and Kane have worked really, really hard."

In terms of his own nomination, Young says that he is deeply honored to be in the running against Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban: "It's pretty dang special," he says. "That's an award you put on a pedestal as a male solo artist."

The year 2018 is the first since 2012 that Young has been on the nominees list in the ACM Male Vocalist category -- and he clearly wasn't expecting it.

"I was asleep!" Young says of the morning that nominations were announced. "I forgot that that was the morning they were announcing it. I woke up, and my phone had about 90 missed messages and calls. So I was like, 'Oh no, what happened?' And then I realized it was a good thing. Phew!"

Young goes on to say that the nomination makes this year's ACMs particularly special, although he would be excited for the ceremony even if he were just a spectator.

"I'm excited to get out [in Vegas] with my friends, grab a craps table and just hang out," he admits. "It's really about the camaraderie, anytime when there's an event where we're all together in one spot. Because of timing and schedules, a lot of us don't see each other outside of those kinds of events. So I'm excited to just hang out."

The 2018 ACM Awards are set to take place in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 15, and air live on CBS beginning at 8PM ET. The ceremony will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.